Triumph Spitfire - Owners Hints & Tips

Introduction

Here are some ideas that may make your life with a Spitfire a bit easier or better. They are mainly based on my own personal experience but some have also come from emails I have received and other articles in magazines.

Of course these are just suggestions and I can accept no responsibility for any unforseen consequences that may follow.

Page Contents

The ideas are laid out in three sections - buying a Spitfire, actually owning one, and selling one.

Before you have a Spitfire
Once you've bought one
Selling a Spitfire
- Watch out for the foreign buyer scam

If you have any suggestions to add why not email me them at: graham@armfield.freeserve.co.uk.

Before you have a Spitfire

Join a Triumph Club

It's worth joining a club for a number of reasons. I joined the Triumph Sports Six Club (TSSC) which initially covered Triumphs based on the Herald chassis but now covers other models like Stags, Dolomites, etc. There are other clubs as well as the TSSC though.

A club can help you find a car as members may advertise their cars for sale in the club magazine or on its website. Of course you may not need to join to look at the adverts.

The main reason for joining a club would be to help with affordable car insurance. The TSSC operates a scheme for members with an insurance company called Footman James and they will insure your Spitfire (and other classic cars) for a very reasonable price. It can be difficult or expensive to insure a Spitfire through more mainstream companies.

After I sold my Spitfire and bought a Stag my insurance premiums with Footman James went up slightly but only to about £220. Where else could you insure a 3 litre car with a comprehensive policy and free breakdown cover for that sort of money?

The TSSC also produce a monthly magazine called The Courier which contains technical articles for the various models and reports on races etc. There are also pages about the local branches of the club.

Visit the TSSC website.

Don't buy the first car you see

Once you've fallen in love with the idea of having a Spitfire it can be really frustrating not to actually own one. Please resist the temptation to buy the first car you find unless you know exactly what you are looking for.

There are many Spitfires for sale out there - all in different states of repair and roadworthiness. When I was looking for one I saw some cars that were in a beautiful condition and some that were in a mess. So take time and see as many cars as you can to get a feel for what's available and what a reasonable price would be. Some owners actually seem to be quite blind to the obvious faults of their cars.

Read and use a buyer's guide

Like most cars the Spitfire has its own peculiar strengths and weaknesses - some of which emerge over a period of time.

It is important to have a feel for potential trouble areas whenever you go to look at a car. From what I remember one of the most important places to look at on a Spitfire are the sills beneath the doors. They may look good but take a magnet along with you to see how much is metal and how much is filler.

The floorpans have a tendency to rust through too - especially on the driver's side, and they can be expensive to replace. The bonnet areas around the headlamps are prone to cracking and rust as well.

But there are many other things to look out for so find a buyer's guide and use it. As a starting place I would recommend Erik Kieboom's guide.

Once you've bought one

Ensure your cooling system is working properly

We all know that Spitfires were built for the open road but unfortunately these days many of us have to drive in slow moving traffic in towns and cites. This gives your engine plenty of opportunity to overheat if the cooling system has any kind of obstruction in it.

Get the system flushed out regularly to remove any deposits that may have built up.

Fit a Kenlowe fan

The original factory fitted fan is driven by the crankshaft and turns quite slowly when the engine is idling so it doesn't pull much air through the radiator. It's an uncomfortable sight to see the temperature gauge creeping inexorably upwards on hot days in slow or stationary traffic - even if your cooling system is clear of blockages (see above).

One solution is to fit a Kenlowe fan - an electrically powered fan which is triggered by the temperature of the cooling water and is not mechanically linked to the crankshaft. The fan is attached either to the front or back of the radiator and it can push a lot more air through the radiator than the original fan - cooling the engine down a lot faster.

In my experience the fan will hardly ever come on when you are actually travelling consistently faster than 30 mph - even on warm summer days. And during journeys in the winter it may not come on at all.

Another advantage of not having the fixed fan is that the engine does warm up quicker in the winter. Indeed based purely on looking at the temperature gauge I found that my car ran at a much more constant temperature all the time - something that can't be bad.

Usually the Kenlowe fan will replace the original mechanical fan so the car will be a lot quieter - except when the Kenlowe kicks in.

I also found a slight improvement in fuel consumption after fitting the Kenlowe. I'm guessing that this was as a result of the engine not having to constantly drive air about as well as the car.

Visit the Kenlowe website

Ensure that your car has deflector boards in front of the radiator

Deflector Boards parts diagram from Rimmer Brothers site These triangular pieces of compressed cardboard go in front of the radiator and attach to the chassis and the radiator frame. Their purpose is to ensure a maximum flow of fresh air through the radiator to help cool the engine. Without them, air entering the engine compartment can just flow round the radiator.

Even with a Kenlowe fitted they are important to make sure that warm air doesn't just circulate round and round the engine compartment when you are stationary.

As well as cardboard I believe stainless steel versions are available too.

I've also seen some Spitfires with deflector boards either side of the engine - I'm not sure how important they are.

Tweaking the tyre pressures can improve ride and handling

When I first had my Spitfire the handling was very different to a more modern car, and the ride on bumpy roads wasn't very smooth at all. Whenever I went over a bump or hollow there seemed to be a two-stage suspension with an accompanying 'bah-dum'. After talking to other owners I realised that things could be better and one of them suggested altering the tyre pressures a bit.

After a series of experiments I found that putting an extra couple of psi (pounds per square inch) in the tyres above the recommended pressure radically improved things - the handling was much more responsive and the ride over bumps was a lot smoother. I'm guessing that the firmer tyres were working with the suspension rather against it.

If you are going to try this, make subtle changes rather than large ones in case the handling gets worse.

Watch out for speed bumps

There's not much clearance beneath the car and the lowest and most vulnerable point on my car was the exhaust pipe in the region of the back axle.

Treat all speed bumps with the utmost respect and never straddle the pillow sort - always put one of the rear wheels on the top of the bump. If you take a bump too fast the rear silencer on a standard exhaust system is vulnerable too as the car bobs down.

Learn how to stow the hood properly

It's very easy to scratch or damage the transparent sections if you don't do it right.

Fit an electric windscreen washer pump

The original manual pump action is rather fiddly and the pumps were apparently prone to leaks. Suitable electrical pumps are relatively inexpensive and they are a lot easier to use. It's not always easy to find an appropriate switch that fits in with the style of the dashboard or wherever though.

Maybe a 'single wipe' switch for the wipers

Whilst you are investigating 'push-to-make' switches why not get one to fit onto the windscreen wiper circuit. A sprung paddle switch on the dash behind the steering wheel is a lot easier than switching the wipers on and off again using the switch on the column.

Selling your Spitfire

Watch out for the foreign buyer scam

This scam is apparently quite common when selling your car through the larger online sites like Exchange and Mart or Autotrader - Exchange & Mart carry warning notices on their site about it. However it's worth being cautious wherever your car is advertised.

The scam goes something like this (although the exact details can vary):

Someone will email you purporting to be from abroad and saying they are interested in your car. They may flatter your car from the photographs in your advert or after they've asked you to email them more pictures. They will then make an offer to buy your car at the asking price with a bankers draft. But they will also suggest giving you some extra money in the bankers draft to cover the shipping costs - getting you to write a cheque or give cash to someone for the shipping cost element.

The bankers draft arrives and you bank it. The 'shipper' will then come and pick up the car and take it away after you've paid them the shipping costs.

After that you feel pleased with yourself - until you find out that the issuing bank (if it exists) has defaulted on the bankers draft you received and the money is no longer sitting in your bank account.

The net result is that you've lost your car and however much you paid out for the shipping costs.

When I sold my Stag in 2005 I think I was being lined up for this. The 'buyer' gave me his address in Geneva and after seeing just 2 photographs offered me the full amount for my car plus of course the shipping charge. I was a bit suspicious and I checked the address on Multimap and Google drawing a blank both times. After I emailed the 'buyer' to query why I couldn't find his address and to ask for more details about the shipping company I never heard from him again.

The scam works because most people assume that bankers drafts represent 'cleared funds' and cannot be withdrawn - but apparently they can even after the money appears to be in your account! Also some bankers drafts allegedly issued by foreign banks are actually forgeries and it can take some time for this to be spotted.